Simulation of Altitude Influence on Piston Ring Movement and Blow-By Effects in Piston Engines (Keynote)

The compression and oil rings of the piston engine play a very important role in the performance and reliability of the piston engine. The rings are required to accomplish three main distinct tasks: 1. Sealing the combustion chamber gas from the crankcase to eliminate blow-by phenomenon, which constitutes the flow of some of the contents of the combustion chamber into the crankcase. 2. Proper distribution of the lubricating oil film over the piston skirt and cylinder liner. 3. Transfer of heat from piston to cylinder liner. Unfortunately the piston ring pack contributes to the highest proportion of the frictional losses in the engine and is more prone to high wear rates. In the engine, the compression rings are designed to provide effective sealing of the crankcase against the gases from the combustion chamber. The oil-rings provide an effective means of distributing the lubricating oil over the cylinder liner while keeping it from flowing into the combustion chamber. The ability of the compression rings to serve as a gas seal depends on their axial position within the groove. The ring needs to be in contact with the lower flank in order to provide the requisite sealing effect. Once the ring lifts itself from the lower flank its ability to act as an effective seal is compromised. The axial motion of the piston rings during the operation of the engine engenders blow-by and therefore has deteriorating effect on the engine performance. Not much work has, hereto, been done to study the impact of altitude on the movement of the piston rings and hence the blow-by phenomenon. This papers presents a simulation model to investigate this effect.